Children from Mill Hill Nursery have been given the opportunity to share the different ways in which they communicated through a project to increase digital engagement in their local community.
The project, run by Mill Hill Nursery in partnership with Sunderland City Council was set up after identifying that, during peak times of the pandemic, lockdown had a negative impact on the wellbeing of residents in their community due to isolation and loneliness and that technology could be used to support communication and interaction between the children and their community.
The nursery school realised that children returning to school following lockdown had gained the skill of using technologies such as the iPad from home learning. They found that technology had become a communication tool which has been used to share their explorations and interpretations.
Mill Hill Nursery children shared their lockdown experiences and were challenged to think about the negative impact which the pandemic may have had on the elderley in the community who may not have had the benefit of contact with family and friends. Using this knowledge, the children began to experiment with video calls and came up with a plan to make friends with elderly people who may have been feeling lonely, even creating videos to share and experimenting with emails and photos – all with the aim of creating positive digital connections.
Their plans and digital communication skills were tested with a local church group. They carried out regular video call sessions with four couples at a time, and the children sang, performed, shared their videos and played games with the elderly church group.
Thomas, aged 4, said, “It was lovely making elderly friends. They were very lonely because they didn’t have a family like us. We couldn’t go and visit them to play so we communicated with our digital things. We saw them on the video call and they looked happy all the time”.
The elderly group also commented on the impact the sessions had on them and one retired participant said: “It gave me a reason to get up and get ready in the mornings. We are all far more confident using the video calls. It’s funny when a 4 year old is helping you sort your screen out. The children were a breath of fresh air and had us all laughing and smiling.”
The nursery plans to continue the project for the remainder of the 2021-22 academic year as the positive impact that the digital inclusion project has had on wellbeing, emotional resilience, intergenerational communication and enhanced technology skills has been noticeable.
Sarah Richards, nursery teacher at Mill Hill Nursery School, said:
“When the children returned to the nursery post-lockdown, it was fascinating to learn how they were communicating during the pandemic, and the role that technology had played in connecting them to family and friends. The use of technology became second nature to them, and we felt enthused to use these digital platforms to make a difference across our community. The children showed such confidence – setting up video calls themselves and planning what they were going to talk about, including games, songs, drawings and more – and they were so proud to be able to help the elderly people.“The project had an immeasurable impact on the wellbeing of both parties – breaking down barriers and building emotional resilience, as well as digital communication skills. We really demonstrated how the digital aspect of learning is integrated in everyday life and is giving people across generations, from nursery age to retirement, another tool and a new language to communicate with.”
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